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My own debt crisis began just as the Wall Street crisis unfolded. I had always just assumed it was a good thing to have credit cards, and before my medical saga, I generally kept my balances low or at zero. AND paid on time. But when the recession hit, some of my cards were cancelled, some lowered the limits, and the rates were jacked way up. Watching the melt-down from a hospital bed, I had some time to reflect on the whole set of assumptions we’ve been living with as a culture about money, credit, debt and risk. And self-employed (as the authors are), I saw my income plummet by two thirds. I found myself in a virtual 21st century debtors prison of the body, mind and soul.

What was so helpful about this book, for me, were the tales about how I’m not alone, and how you really can live, and live well — I dare say, live better! — without a great credit score. My credit score will eventually recover, but perhaps even more important, I no longer care so much about it. The whole “your credit score is your life you have to have a good one to do anything” conversation, I’m beginning to suspect, is part of a whole way we have been trained, like lab rats, to relate to our money. I’ve made payment plans for some of my debt, and have offered settlements to the credit card companies (20 cents on the dollar, which they were happy to take, since my only alternative was bankruptcy).

I don’t really see the need to have a bunch of credit cards ever again in my life, and I no longer define my value as a human being by my credit score. I use a debit card for things that require a card (ex. hotel when traveling), and keep one credit card for dire emergencies. I’m replenishing my financial cushion. I’m rebuilding my business. But I’m relating differently to money, and to the whole machine that is the financial industry. I don’t hate them, but I don’t really need a lot of what they have to offer, either. A mortgage? Yes. Buying anything at 25% interest? No thanks! Life is simpler, and more importantly, easier to live. I have this book to thank for it.

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Guess what?

It isn’t. Good credit is what gets people into debt trouble in the first place. The only good thing you can do with a high credit score is buy a house. Everything else — consumer goods, new cars, private student loans, boats, luxury vacations, etc. — is bad.

What Geoff Williams and Chris Balish show in this book that is actually quite groundbreaking is this: YOU DON’T NEED GOOD CREDIT TO HAVE A GOOD FINANCIAL LIFE! I would rather be rich than have good credit and, contrary to popular belief, the two are not really that related. Most people use a high credit score to destroy their financial lives, not improve them.

Major props to Chris Balish and Geoff Williams for putting together a book whose time has come.

Wake up, America! Your credit score is not some token of your moral value! Get over your credit score and live your life — and this is just the book you need to get started.

5 STARS.

Zac Bissonnette

AOL Money & Finance

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We know that the cost of bad credit is expensive, so Living Well With Bad Credit is especially helpful with its solid suggestions of ways to both save money and to be able to get hired, find decent housing, rent a car, start a business, go on a vacation (not a posh one!), and repair credit history.

The book is divided into these ten parts:

* Welcome to the Land of Bad Credit

* Banking with Bad Credit

* Getting a Good Job with Bad Credit

* Good Housing with Bad Credit

* Driving: Bad Credit in the Passenger Seat

* Starting a Business with Bad Credit

* Living with Bad Credit

* Avoiding Bad Credit Scams

* Bad Credit: Psychology 101

Each of the chapters are straightforward and helpful. Balish and Williams flag what to look out for in each of the categories and offer specific ways to manage with a low credit score.

In Banking with Bad Credit, the book briefly explains ChexSystems which computes and tracks everyone’s credit scores. Since 80% of banks in the country subscribe to ChexSystem and a low credit score or disastrous credit history can make it difficult to open a checking account with a major bank, Balish and Williams suggest looking into the bank’s Second Chance program which may be a way to open a bank account again. Balish and Williams describe the “unbanked” and the costs that are incurred through payday lenders, pawnshops, and check-cashing outlets. Balish and Williams also evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using Probity Financial Services, [...], and credit unions for their financial services.

In Housing with Bad Credit, Balish and Williams offer ways to find decent housing through unusual housing arrangements, selecting the landlords that might be more open to a tenant with bad credit, and different ways that someone with bad credit can negotiate a lease with a landlord. Balish and Williams also cover different ways to obtain a mortgage or purchase a home from finding lenders and credit unions that are sympathetic to lenders with a bad credit history to seller financing to “rent-to-own”, lease-purchase and lease-option ways to acquire a home.

Beyond the specific tips offered in the book, Balish and Williams share their own experiences to good effect. Williams explains how he found himself having to declare bankruptcy. As Williams describes the steps that he took as he drew deeper into debt, the mistakes that he made, and what he went through and how he started over, Living Well with Bad Credit becomes more than the usual personal finance book.

ISBN-10: c – Paperback $12.95

Publisher: Publisher: HCI (January 4, 2010), 192 pages.

Review copy provided by the publisher and TLC Book Tours.